One Rainy Night
by Sean P. O'Farrel
Summary: Chat Noir has been reckless again. But on a rainy night like this, what will it cost him?


It was raining.

Big fat drops of water splattered everywhere, and thick black clouds hung low over the city of Paris, threatening thunder and lightning to come. Each drop created a cacophony, a steady drum of sound that drowned the small noises of the evening. Crickets were silenced, the wind fought to be heard between raindrops, and even car engines struggled to be heard over the onslaught of water.

Chat Noir hated the rain.

He had hated it ever since he'd first gotten the ring, since he'd first transformed, but even before, he'd never liked the storms that passed through Paris with fury. The storms had always accompanied his worst memories: When he'd lost his mother, the first time he realized his father didn't care- couldn't care- about him anymore, the first time he had failed his father and had been grounded. The rain had even been there the first time Ladybug had rejected his affections, coming right after he had confessed and she had laughed it off as though Chat had just told another joke.

Chat Noir hated the rain. Adrien hated the rain. And they were both sure the rain hated them both back.

He landed on the next rooftop and stumbled as pain flashed through him. His injuries had almost stopped him from coming back out, from trying to get away. He'd almost given up. But he'd dragged himself away, and was throwing himself across the rooftops, not very gracefully, but with everything he still had.

He needed to see her.

That had been Adrien's only thought since he'd leapt from the window. Chat's only thought as he raced across Paris. Both had a desperate need to see a flash of red somewhere, anywhere. To see bluebell eyes surrounded by a red mask, raven hair caught in the winds of the Parisian heights, lips full and certain and _so kissable_ though he knew they were for a mangy alley cat like himself. He needed to see Ladybug.

To see her, and finally tell her it was over.

His eyes finally caught the flash of red he'd been looking for, and he threw himself after it like it was his lifeline in a flood that threatened to consume him.

The first bolt of lightning lit up her eyes as she turned to look at him, and he almost ran.

She knew.

Taking an involuntary step backwards, fear piercing deep in his heart, he stared into Ladybug's eyes, taking in the fury, the sadness, the guilt. Chat could almost see her tears, and he felt his heart start to break, but he stood straight and tall and met her stare with one of determination and longing, but also acceptance.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the butterfly broach. Her eyes flicked to it and widened, before pulling back to his own. This time, Chat could see the tears, mixing with the raindrops that trailed down her face, and as the first tear hit the ground, thunder clapped, and his heart broke.

Chat's legs gave out, and he fell back, his rear hitting the hard roof first and supporting him as he leaned back onto something solid and supporting. He didn't stop to think what it might be, instead closing his eyes and listening to the rain.

"It's over." His voice was barely a whisper, but he couldn't manage anymore.

"I know." Her voice was a wall, and he flinched at the anger in there.

"It's over…" The second time was more for himself than her. He needed to hear it, needed for what he'd done to hang over them, to be acknowledged. No matter what happened.

Hawk Moth hadn't been expecting Chat Noir to show up alone to his lair on a rainy night in Paris. He hadn't expected the hero to know his identity, nor had he expected to know Chat's. Neither of them had expected to leave alive, to escape the anger in the other's eyes, or the grim determination that drove their fight.

Chat almost hadn't.

Chat flinched as the feeling slowly started to return to his body. Every cut, every bruise, everything he'd taken during the fight started to hit him, all at once. He guessed he'd been riding on adrenaline, but he couldn't be sure. All he knew was the it hurt.

"You're angry."

"Of course I'm angry, Chat!" Chat Noir flinched away from her. She'd crossed the rooftop while he'd had his eyes closed, and was standing in front of him as the bright green pools opened once more to focus on her. "Of course I'm angry! We're partners! You're supposed to trust me! I'm supposed to be there for you! We were supposed to do this together!"

"I wanted you to be safe." Chat tried to put everything he felt for her into that one sentence. He tried to put his love, how much he cared, how much he trusted her into the only thing he could managed to say at the moment, and he hoped that it would be enough.

It wasn't.

"You wanted me _safe?"_ Ladybug's voice was incredulous, her voice almost an angry growl as the words escaped her. Chat's muscles relaxed, and he slid down to lie flat on the roof as Ladybug began pacing back and forth in front of him, stepping over him when his fallen body got in her way. "Chat, we keep _each other_ safe. We're _partners_. It isn't your job to keep me out of the fights! It isn't your job to get killed for me! It isn't your job to… To…"

"But I'd do anything to keep you safe." Chat wasn't sure how he still managed to speak, much less how she managed to hear his voice over the storm. Harsh winds whipped the rain into them like tiny bullets, and each wicked drop against his wounds-against his _skin_ \- stung almost as much as her anger at him.

"You don't need to keep me safe!" She sounded exasperated. Normally, he would smile at that, and she'd smile back at him, because things would be normal and everything would be happy and great. But today wasn't normal, and he couldn't find it in him to make her any angrier by smiling. He kept his face blank, and his eyes on the clouds. "You don't need to keep me safe, Chat. I can take care of myself!" She stopped pacing, and he could feel her glare. "Don't you trust me?"

"I trust you. Didn't trust Hawk Moth. Didn't…" He let the sentence die out. _I didn't trust myself to keep you safe._

"Didn't what, Chat? What didn't you?"

"I didn't trust myself to keep you safe! I didn't trust myself not to get in your way! I didn't… I couldn't trust that you wouldn't get hurt because of me. And I couldn't let you get hurt."

He didn't hear her move again, and he thought about sitting up to look at her. But he was comfortable where he was, and he couldn't bring himself to move. It hurt too much.

His miraculous beeped, and Chat frowned.

"I could have helped you, Chat. You're hurt."

"And you aren't. That's what matters to me." He heard her take a step back.

"You don't even know me, Chat."

"I do, Ladybug-"he heard her gasp, and he managed to wave a hand to dismiss her fears. "I know that you're my lady. I know that no matter who you are under that mask, I'm love you. And I didn't want you hurt."

"Chat-"

"I didn't want you hurt." He put everything he could into that one sentence. Everything he still had. He had to make her understand. No matter what, she needed to understand he couldn't lose her, not to death. Even if it meant losing her some other way.

He heard her take another step back, then the zing of her yoyo as she threw it, to wrap around some distant object and carry her from the rooftop, away from him.

Chat didn't know where she'd gone, or if he'd see her again. He had no idea who she was, or if she'd still be Ladybug now that they had the butterfly miraculous, the source of the akuma they'd been fighting. She knew he could take it where it needed to go. There was no need for her to ever see him again. Ladybug and Chat Noir no longer had any reason to patrol the rooftops of Paris. There would never again be another akuma…

Chat's wounds were on fire in the rain, the pain making it easy to ignore the pain in his heart and forget the memories of her that were already desperate to claw their way to the front of his mind. Rain continued to fall on his battered and bruised body, mixing with the blood and sweat that the gashes in his suit exposed.

His ring beeped again, and his transformation wore off. His eyes closed.

Adrien Agreste hated the rain.


End file.
